The Parents with Children of African Descent is a parent-lead advocacy group supporting African-American students in Sylvia Mendez Elementary.  We are as strong as our community and we lean on our stakeholders for support, our school faculty, staff, PTA, and our families.  We strive to enrich the community of our school with culture and are dedicated to the village mentality.  

Our purpose is to build pride in Bilingualism for Black children and families 

of  Sylvia Mendez Elementary.

A team of Sylvia Mendez's parents initiated this coalition to increase the involvement and support of African American families within our school community. The overarching goal of this group is to systematically create a foundation that allows students to realize lifelong success throughout their school career and beyond.

The purpose of PCAD is to work with the school to identify needs and opportunities for African American/Black students to achieve academically, and to identify strategies and resources that will eliminate barriers to their achievement. 

We stand firm on the Ubuntu proverb: 

I am because we are. We are because I am. May the circle be unbroken

You are your child's first teacher, and you decided that a second language will open up so many more opportunities.  You want them to achieve academic success, thrive, and grow, this can only be done if you are involved.  

It is well documented that African American students perform at higher levels in school when their parent/guardian is engaged in their learning efforts. We will engage with the parents/guardians with the appropriate tools that will enable them to become advocates for their children.  

To get involved, we ask that you do three simple things:

1. Stay connected through email/Remind- Class code: @sm-pcad

2. Browse through the website. Get to know our team, our PCAD goals, and future meeting times found in the Calendar as well as Quick Links.

3. Tell other parents about our meetings and commit to attending.

Subscribe to get meeting reminders, receive meeting minutes, updates on PCAD goals, opportunities for your student, and updates on events and calls to action.